Cricket approved for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, announces IOC president

IOC president Thomas Bach on Friday said that officials had accepted a proposal by LA organisers for cricket to be included as one of five new sports

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has accepted the inclusion of cricket in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, IOC president Thomas Bach announced after the IOC executive board meeting in Mumbai on Friday.

IOC president Thomas Bach, speaking after the second day of an executive board meeting in Mumbai, said officials had accepted a proposal by LA organisers for cricket to be included as one of five new sports along with baseball/softball, flag football (non-contact American football), squash and lacrosse.

“The proposal of the Los Angeles Organising Committee to introduce five new sports and these five sports are baseball and softball, flag football, lacrosse, squash and cricket – these proposals have been accepted as a package by the IOC executive board taking into consideration these proposals,” Thomas Bach said.

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“These sports are fully in line with the sports culture of our host in 2028 with the American sports culture, they will showcase iconic American sports to the World while bringing at the same time international sports to the United States. Their inclusion will, on the other hand, allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athletes and fan communities in the US and globally. The IOC executive board also reviewed the status of the three sports that were not part of the initial sports programme for LA 2028,” he added.

Cricket has been seen at two editions of the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Birmingham in 2022. But it has not been a part of the Olympic Games since England defeated France in a one-off match in Paris to win the Gold medal in 1900.

However, in five years, a second appearance at the Olympics is on the cards in the USA.

There was a long list of criteria that needed to be satisfied before cricket was to be recognised by the IOC. It was only after taking control of the women’s game in 2005 and introducing the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2006 that the International Cricket Council (ICC) ticked all the major boxes.